Of abortions and discarding of babies

Baby with sacrococcygeal terratoma in JB Hospital (courtesy of Cheah Ping Ping)

Lately, Malaysia has been plagued with the news of newborns being discarded in dumpsters, on riverbanks, beside the roads, and many more inhumane areas. Some of the lucky and tough babies survived the ordeal and were promptly rescued by do gooders and sent to shelter homes. They will then wait until the day that they are adopted by parents who actually want children but can't have them on their own, or sent back to the families that . And some, the less fortunate ones, end up growing up in shelter homes not knowing who their real families are.

Premaritual sex is rather a common thing nowadays in Malaysia although it is still the biggest taboo and the stigma that haunts the minds of many Malaysians about single mothers are rather demeaning. Therefore, put 2 and 2 together, the equation will end up with another baby dead or alive somewhere out there without anyone tending to it.

How could someone carry a child for 9 whole months and discard of the gift from God, just like that? Have they no sense at all? Fine, they are panicked and do not know what to do of the child, but really, is that the way to act? To let the baby die on its own in a bag, or eaten by stray dogs, or rotten by bacterias and maggots? There must be something wrong in their heads, somewhere.

Recently, Malaysia has come up with the genius idea of having a baby bank i.e. babies that are born out of wedlock may be deposited at the bank, where the babies will be cared for until someone wants to adopt them. OK, it is well and good that we will see less of babies being discarded inhumanely. But with this baby bank, would there be more babies born out of wedlock? More premaritual sex? More incidence of sex-related diseases? And what if the bank is so full but the rate of adoption does not tally? And what if there are babies that are born with congenital defects or HIV infected? Who wants to adopt those babies? Then what happens to them? Honestly, I don't think the baby bank does any more good than harm.

What should be done instead is Malaysia should start the DNA bank. Yes, it is a tedious and expensive project, but it is well worth it. Not only that we can trace the parents of these discarded babies, but with the DNA bank, we can solve crime of rape, murder and etc. Infact, any immigrants that enter the county, should also be registered under the DNA bank.

So, what is your opinion on this issue?